Thinking of buying fish, need help.

[itsme123]

Well, i would like to buy a fish or two, and im not sure if a 10 gallon aquarium would do for something simple, and relitivly small. I don't want like 10 fish just one or two, and i don't want a betta. There are a lot of fish at the petstores and i keep seeing neon tetra's popping up as nice fish. Any advice? and if 10 gallons isn't enough, what is? im only 13 (yes, im very responsible) so i don't have 200 dollars, i get maybe 20 dollars a week if i do extra...so it needs to be sensible. any advise would be welcomed

EDIT: I will make sure i have everything ready and i have to convince my mom, she's had bad experiences with fish.*PEACE!*

 

[Fishandfrogs]

perhaps an angel? or some sort of eel looking fish. they seem to be interesting and solitary. (my surface impression only, i havent done any research)

 

[joy613]

Tetras usually do best in a group of at least 5 fish. What about a paradise fish. One thing you have to be careful of is they are jumpers. Gourami is another interesting fish. If you do enough looking around you will probably find the type of fish that you are looking for and also how to cycle a tank.

 

[iapetus]

joy613 mentioned this briefly, but didn't quite emphasize it: if you're not already aware, make sure that you know what cycling a tank is all about and how to do it. Also, do you already have your tank, itsme123? Do you have the equipment needed?

Despite not needing a heater (which is nice), do not get a goldfish; they're messy and generally need a 20G tank.

I would think that a South American cichlid like a Bolivian Ram or a German Blue Ram would be excellent (there are others). A gourami would also be a nice choice.

joy613 is correct in avoiding tetras because of their schooling nature. If you only want one or two fish, avoid schooling fish.

You might also consider a pair of swordtails (my faves ). But, if you go this route or get any livebearer, be sure that you get two of the same sex!!! If you mix sexes with livebearers, you'll be overrun with babies. If you go with these guys, you might also want to pick up some ghost shrimp to help keep your tank clean (cichlids might view these guys as snacks).

Those are just a few ideas; read through the fish profiles (see the "Profiles" link above) to see what strikes your fancy.

Welcome to the Tank, itsme123 (and you, too, joy613)!

 

[HAAA]

a couple of long fined platies are nice or long fined swordtails but just get male swords

 

[ChrisShip]

A gourami might be a nice choice, I would check to see which ones would be good for a 10 gallon tank. There are some nice Platties too, some can be very colourful. A bolivian Ram cichlid might work in a 10 gallon bu that is probably for the more advanced fish keeper. I think neons like to be in schools of 5 or more.

 

[MissFishy]

No neons! Neons are overbred and fragile fish nowadays, plus they are insanely common. Get something interesting! Do lots of research, there are many things you can do with a 10 gallon tank. If you aren't familiar with the cycling and equipment needed, take a look at the link in my signature below for some basic set up info.

 

[HAAA]

i know the perfect fish long finned zebra danios or leopard danios

 

[TabMorte]

A 10G is a good and bad starter aquarium. The upside is you can probably pick up a kit for about $40.00 and then likely all you would need to buy ontop of that is gravel, a heater and water conditioners. (probably another $30.00). After that you can just add to it as you go and upgrade when you have money for it.

The down side is a 10G being such a small environment requires a lot more attention because small changes effect the whole tank quickly. Fortunitely with only one or two fish you shouldn't have much trouble with that and the tank will be easier to keep stable then if you had 10 fish in it.

So you have a company called Big Al's any where near you? They're an aquarium specialty chain that's very large. I would totally recommend if you do taking a good walk through their fish room which is usually pretty large. It'll give you a good idea of what kind of fish you can get in the area and what you like to look at.